“The city center is deserted, some restaurateurs have closed their terraces and adjusted their hours. There would even be shortages of ice cubes in some establishments,” notes Marie, an employee at the Grenoble tourist office. It must be said that the Isère city is preparing to face temperatures flirting with 40°.
But she will not be alone since a large southwestern third of France is preparing to face a record heat wave in the coming days. A dome should encompass several departments – 19 of them are on heatwave orange vigilance – with mercury that will intensify day by day. And this will inevitably have an impact on tourism.
Record attendance at altitude
If the temperature should flirt with 38° in Annecy, many tourists will migrate to the side of Mont-Blanc to find a little freshness. The Chamonix Tourist Office announces a record attendance rate at the Aiguille du Midi this weekend. The reason ? : “At the top of the Aiguille, the temperature is around 10°. All online reservations to access it are almost complete for this weekend.
For his part, Jean-Michel, 63, reader of 20 minutes, is more far-sighted. He has given up staying in the South-East in the summer for years, preferring to put his suitcases down on the west coast, facing the island of Oléron: “And I am very happy about it, enthuses- he. If in the coming years the heat wave also settles there, I will go further north, going to Brittany or Normandy if necessary. “He also admits having definitively abandoned trips to Spain, Italy or Greece during the summer, destinations where it is “too hot” according to him.
The sixty-year-old, who indulges in a few guesses, thinks that “in a few years it will be the Scandinavian countries that will welcome tourists in search of reasonable warmth”. Enough to free up a few places on the Aiguille du Midi cable car.